Center for Chinese Studies

The ARI Center for Chinese Studies was founded to contribute to the development of Chinese studies by carrying on ARI's long tradition in Chinese studies and communist bloc studies and approaching China and related fields in a comprehensive and in-depth manner through consilience between the humanities and social sciences. The Center for Chinese Studies aims to be a truly world-class hub of Chinese studies by generating in-depth research results and promoting active academic exchanges between researchers through efforts to continue to find new research themes on China, hold various academic meetings, build a research network both at home and abroad, and implement joint research projects.

Organization

Objective

Political Reform and Democracy

The panel analyzes the current state and characteristics of political reform in China and explores the possibility of the emergence of a democratic China. In particular, the panel looks into the meaning of democracy as embraced by China and predicts both the likelihood and future of China's modification of democracy.

• Chief : Jung-nam Lee (ARI professor)

Projects in progress

• Political Changes and the Conception of Democracy in China: Approach through comparative historical analysis of discourse and empirical survey: Mar. 2010 to Feb. 2012 (Posco TJ Park Foundation)
• Chinese Communist Party and Political Changes

Foreign Policy & Security

The panel plans to conduct comprehensive research on China's foreign, security, and Northeast Asian policies; Sino-U.S. relations; and Sino-Korean relations. The reason for pursuing this research is that a study on the external policies of China, which has emerged as a new East Asian power, is a key variable in bringing peace and development to the Korean Peninsula, East Asia, and the world. The Office of Politics & Economics Research is in charge of operating the Foreign Policy & Security Panel.

• Chief : Jung-nam Lee (ARI professor)

Projects in progress

• China's External Policies in the Xi Jinping Era: May 16, 2011 to Nov. 30, 2011 (Northeast Asian History Foundation, published in book form)

Urban China Studies

The panel takes note of the role of cities and city dwellers in China in the last 100 years. The panel aims to deepen understanding of Chinese history and society by undertaking research on cities as a new polity and a hotbed of discourse, civil society and culture in cities, domestic migrants, urban laborers, urban society and statism, and recent reurbanization.

• Chief : Sang-soo Park (professor of history at Korea University, vice director of ARI)

Cold War Studies

The panel inherits ARI's tradition of communist bloc studies and takes an interdisciplinary approach between history and political science to study the impact on East Asia of the Cold War in the mid- to late 20th Century. In addition, the panel focuses on finding and amassing archives in the areas of China's politics, diplomacy, and society, which have recently been opened to the public.

Researchers

• Chief : Sang-soo Park (professor of history at Korea University, vice director of ARI)

The Chinese State: the Ideological basis of founding and running a state

Throughout history, Chinese states have continued to change in terms of their system and its operation, the thought underpinning each system, and their identity. Accordingly, changes have also occurred in the understanding of the "people" as members of a state and the relationship between the state and the people. The Chinese State.

• Chief : Jung-hwan Lee (ARI HK research professor), Hyun-seung Shin (ARI HK research professor)

Activities

Academic Activities

1. Seminar and Roundtable

On the medium- to long-term intensive research topics that the center has selected, experts in related fields give a presentation and lead a discussion. Research panels are formed according to areas such as politics, economy, history, society, and thought, and the panels lead seminars. This enables the center to understand current issues and research trends in related fields and develop new research topics. Currently, fives panels, namely the Political Reform and Democracy Panel, the Foreign Policy & Security Panel, the Urban China Studies Panel, the Chinese State Panel, and the Cold War Studies Panel, are actively holding seminars.

2. Workshops

To ensure a variety of approaches to diverse topics related to China, experts on China or Northeast Asia are invited from home and abroad to make a presentation and lead a discussion. The workshop is open to professors and both graduate and undergraduate students from various China-related departments at Korea University, China experts from outside the university, and the general public interested in Chinese issues. This is an opportunity to disseminate and share the results of ARI's Chinese studies with various experts as well as the public.

3. Conferences

To provide opportunities to present the center's research results and discuss historical and current issues, the center hosts a domestic or international conference at least once a year.

4. Korea-China Forum

The forum is aimed at organizing regular academic exchanges between the ARI Center for Chinese Studies and major research institutes in China. Through the forum, the center seeks a common understanding regarding the direction of the development of Sino-Korean relations and the peace and development of East Asia, and it also tries to establish a wide research network that connects Korean and Chinese researchers.

Cooperation and Networking

By encouraging Chinese studies scholars at home and abroad as well as scholars in China-related departments at Korea University to actively participate in ARI's various research projects and events, the ARI Center for Chinese Studies can secure a network that enables the center to serve as a hub for Chinese studies. To this end, the center maintains the following positions:

Advisor

The center appoints experts in and out of the country as advisors to seek expertise on the activities and future direction of the center.

Visiting professor

The center invites Korean and foreign experts on China or Northeast Asia as visiting professors to expand the scope of the center.

Research assistant

The center has the next-generation scholars in master's and doctoral programs participate in projects and activities as research assistants.

Publications

Planning and publishing research series: The center collects its research results and publishes them as a Chinese studies series, as an extension of the existing Chinese studies collection.